# Pitch deck design: a look that holds for twenty slides [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/pitch-deck-design) Most decks look good for three slides and fall apart by slide eight. The fix is a system: a handful of slide types, each with a background that knows its job. ## The short version - Good pitch deck design comes from a system of four to six slide types, not from designing twenty slides one by one. - Backgrounds should be strongest on title and section slides and quietest on content and data slides, where they must recede behind the information. - One type scale, one grid and one accent colour used the same way on every slide make a deck feel designed. - Chart colours should come from the brand palette, with the accent reserved for the single number or bar that makes the point. - Decks are usually built at 16:9, 1920×1080, and checked as a PDF because that is how many investors will read them. Good **pitch deck design** is a system, not twenty separate designs. Decide on four to six slide types, such as title, section, content, data, quote and closing, give each a fixed layout and a background of the right strength, then build every slide from those types. The result looks consistent from the first slide to the last, is faster to edit when the numbers change, and keeps attention on the story instead of the decoration. A widescreen title slide reading Payroll that runs itself on a rich gradient background The title slide: the background at full strength… A widescreen data slide showing one large figure on a calmer version of the same gradient …and a data slide, where the same background steps back. The example company, figures and copy on these slides are illustrations, not real data. The principles apply whatever your story is. ## Slide sizes for pitch decks - 16:9, 1920×1080: 1920 × 1080 - 4:3, 1600×1200: 1600 × 1200 Build at 16:9 unless you know the deck will be shown on an older 4:3 screen. Almost every screen, projector and video call is widescreen, so 16:9 at 1920×1080 is the default. A 4:3 deck at 1600×1200 leaves black bars on most displays. Pick one at the start: converting later means relaying out every slide. ## The slide types that make a deck system | Slide type | Job | Background strength | | --- | --- | --- | | Title | Name, one-line promise, round or date | Full: the brand at its boldest | | Section | Signals a new chapter: problem, product, market | Full or strong, with one word or phrase | | Content | One idea with a headline and a few lines | Quiet: a calm area behind text | | Data | One chart or one big number | Quietest: near-flat so the chart leads | | Quote or team | A customer line, faces and roles | Medium | | Closing | The ask and contact details | Full, echoing the title | Six slide types cover almost every deck. Backgrounds get quieter as the information gets denser. This rhythm, bold at the edges of each section and calm in the middle, gives the deck a pulse. Viewers feel a new chapter start without being told, and the dense slides stay easy to read. [Visual hierarchy](https://gradiently.design/guide/visual-hierarchy) explains why one clear focal point per slide matters so much. ## Backgrounds that recede behind the content A background that fights the words is the most common deck mistake. The fix is to use one background family in different strengths: full colour on the title, then a darker or softer variation for content slides, with the calmest region behind the text. Keep the same colours throughout so the quieter slides still feel like part of the same deck. [Presentation backgrounds](https://gradiently.design/guide/presentation-backgrounds) has more ideas for the backgrounds themselves. - Title and section: full: `linear-gradient(135deg, #0b1d3a, #1d4ed8 55%, #38bdf8)` - Quote and team: medium: `linear-gradient(135deg, #0b1d3a, #13306b 60%, #1e3a8a)` - Content and data: quiet: `linear-gradient(180deg, #0b1d3a, #0f2547)` One navy to sky family at three strengths. The quiet version still belongs, but it will not compete with a chart. In Gradiently this is built in: a Mark knows where the words are, moves its calmest, best-contrasting region behind the text and relaxes busy detail near the letters, so content slides stay readable without a separate background. ## Type, grid and colour rules for a deck 1. **Set one type scale** Choose three sizes and stick to them: a headline size, a body size and a small size for sources and footnotes. On a 1920×1080 slide, body text much below 28px becomes hard to read on a shared screen. 2. **Fix the margins** Use the same outer margin on every slide and align headlines to the same position. When a headline jumps between slides, the deck feels unsteady. 3. **One headline per slide, written as the point** "Revenue tripled in six months" does more than "Revenue". The headline is the sentence you want remembered. 4. **One accent colour, used for one thing** Reserve the brightest colour for highlights: the key number, the bar that matters, the ask. If everything is highlighted, nothing is. 5. **Two fonts at most** A display face for headlines and a clear sans for everything else. [Font pairing](https://gradiently.design/guide/font-pairing) covers combinations that work. ## Chart and data slide design Charts are where decks lose their look, because charting tools bring their own default colours. Replace them with a palette built from the deck's background family: muted tones for the context series and the accent for the one that makes your point. Remove gridlines you do not need, label values directly rather than with a legend, and give every chart a headline that states the conclusion. - Navy ground: #0b1d3a - Deep blue: #1e3a8a - Slate context: #64748b - Mist context: #cbd5e1 - Sky accent: #38bdf8 A chart palette taken from the deck: context series in slate and mist, the accent saved for the number that matters. ### Avoid - A different background on every slide - Busy, bright backgrounds behind charts - Default chart colours from the spreadsheet - Headlines that only name the topic - Small text that disappears on a shared screen ### Do - One background family in three strengths - Near-flat backgrounds on data slides - Chart colours from the brand palette - Headlines that state the point - Body text of about 28px or more at 1920×1080 ## Exporting and sharing the deck Many people will read your deck as a PDF on a laptop or phone rather than watch it presented, so check the exported PDF, not just the slides in the editor. Make sure fonts are embedded or the text is converted, gradients have not banded, and each slide still makes sense without you talking over it. If the deck opens with a link preview, a strong [Open Graph image](https://gradiently.design/guide/open-graph-image-size) at 1200×630 made from the title slide helps too. Finally, write down the system: slide types, colours, fonts and sizes. It turns the next deck, and every update to this one, into assembly rather than design, and it is the seed of a [brand style guide](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-style-guide). ## FAQ ### What size should a pitch deck be? Build it at 16:9, 1920×1080 pixels. It fits modern screens, projectors and video calls without black bars. ### How many fonts should a pitch deck use? Two at most: one for headlines and one for body text, with three fixed sizes used consistently. ### Should pitch deck slides have busy backgrounds? Only the title, section and closing slides. Content and data slides need quiet backgrounds so the information leads. ### How do I keep a pitch deck consistent? Design four to six slide types with fixed layouts and backgrounds, then build every slide from them instead of designing each one separately. ### What colours should charts in a deck use? Colours from the deck's own palette: muted tones for context and a single accent colour for the data point that makes the argument.